FAA OKs US UAVs

Two unmanned aerial vehicles have received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform commercial operations in United States airspace. The Scan Eagle 200 from Insitu will be launched from a ship and used to monitor icebergs and migrating whales in parts of the Arctic where companies are looking for oil. The PUMA from Aerovironment will be used by emergency response teams for monitoring oil spills. (Both are referred to as unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, by the Administration.) "Issuing the type certificates is an important step toward the FAA's goal of integrating UAS into the nation's airspace. These flights will also meet requirements in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 that define Arctic operational areas and include a mandate to increase Arctic UAS commercial operations."

Comments

FAA OKs US UAVs?

[tocsy]

WTF OMG?

(I have nothing further to add to this conversation. I apologize for having wasted your time.)

Re:FAA OKs US UAVs?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

You were supposed to write "RTFM" instead of "Get it right". Now you've ruined it.

Re:And when are the Hellfire missles coming?

[bill_mcgonigle]

I hate to agree with the gun nuts, but if I see a drone, I'm grabbing the shotgun and firing at it.

If you think about it, that doesn't really make sense except that the FAA is keeping the power dynamic unfairly tilted. The taco copter should be free to delivery to you and welcome, but only law enforcement and oil companies are being allowed access to airspace, apparently.

Re:UAS instead of UAV

[icebike]

Looking at each of the two systems you will see that these are fairly range limited, one having only a two hour endurance and a 9 mile range, the other (Boeing) having 20 hours endurance, 62 mile range, (and a ceiling of 16000 ft, high enough to interfere with commercial flights).

Most of the range issues are telemetry for remote piloting.

Still, you can expect some states and agencies to pick up the 20 hour Boeing ScanEagle, based on search and rescue justifications, while the shorter range craft will probably be bought in larger numbers by law enforcement, (And will quickly be proven a money and manpower wasting boondoggle).

(Dispatch: All searchers and helicopters please return to base so we can send the Drone into a clean environment! News choppers, please clear the airspace and maintain 20 mile distance for drone operations!)

You can soon expect to hear the lament: If only one lost child's life is saved.....